Blog 8- Martin and Samuelson: Knowledge

Before the printing press was invented, knowledge was limited to only elite, high power, people. Nowadays with the creation of the internet, information and knowledge can easily be accessed. Today,  knowledge is trying to be kept to a limit from the general public by orienting the the knowledge to specific disciplines or powerful groups, such as corporations, economists, and governements. This is done by adding charges to subscriptions of scholarly articles or journals, which can cost thousands of dollars. The majority of the public won’t be able or want to pay thousands to read a scholarly journal. The controversy is why should people have to pay thousands of dollars when the publisher keeps the majority of the money for profit. As the article on Aaron Swartz states; in most cases the author isn’t even paid from that subscription fee. Almost all researches are sponsered or expenses to conduct the research are granted to the researcher(s) creating the scholarly articles/journals. They are creating those articles to advance knowledge, in return for very little compensation. So why does society have to pay a ridiculous amount to read an article that was produced by the aide of a foundation or grant? The more accessible knowledge is, the more discoveries can be made.